Thermal stress problems continue to attract
the attention of a large international community of investigators. Based
on a survey of 87 papers* published during 1996, a number of problem areas
of major concern can be identified. One area of concentration, representing
over one-fifth of the reviewed papers, involves thermo-mechanical behaviors
of anisoptropic and/or nonhomogeneous media. Among this group, 13 articles
address problems associated with composite materials or structures, with
9 of this emphasizing response of laminated systems to various loads (e.g.,
thermal shock, combined mechanical and thermal loads, thermoelectric fields,
etc.). Another area receiving considerable attention involves the potential
utilization of advanced materials and "smart" structures for controlling
thermal deformations; studies in this area have focused mainly on functionally
graded media (6 articles) and piezoelectric ceramics (5). Thermally induced
dynamic behaviors are investigated in 16 of the reviewed papers, with attention
directed primarily at thermoelastic wave propagation (5), and free or forced
vibrations (5) of beams, plates and shells. Other of the surveyed investigations
treat: crack problems (8), including analysis of edge cracks in composite
and functionally graded materials; stability problems (7) associated with
thermal loading of beams, plates and shells; inelastic response (7), entailing
viscoelastic, viscoplastic or elastic-plastic behaviors; development and
application of numerical methods for thermal stress analysis, in particular,
boundary element (4) and finite element techniques (3); thermoelastic contact
problems (5); and experimental techniques (4) for determination of stress,
damage or fracture, based upon thermoelastic data.As evidence of the worldwide interest
in thermal stresses, it is noted that of the nearly 50 articles published
in the Journal of Thermal Stresses during 1996, the 82 contributing authors
and co-authors represent 19 different countries, including: Bulgaria (2
authors), Egypt (2), France (3), Georgia (1), Germany (1), lndia (7), lran
(3), ltaly (3), Japan (19), Korea (1), Kuwait (1), Poland (1), Romania
(1), Russia (3), South Aftica (1), Taiwan (7), Turkey (1), Ukraine (4),
and United States (18).

T. R. TauchertChair, National Organizing Committee

* Articles included in the
survey were those appearing in Volume 19 of the Journal of Thermal Stresses
plus those cited in the "Publications on Thermal Stresses" section of the
journal.